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Credit & Copyright: Greg Chavdarian
Explanation:
On October 15, standing near the summit of Hawaii's
Mauna Kea
and looking away from a gorgeous sunset produced this
magnificent snapshot of a Full Moon rising within
the volcanic mountain's shadow.
An alignment across the
Solar System is captured in the
stunning scene and seeming contradiction of bright Moon in dark shadow.
The triangular appearance of a
shadow cast
by a mountain's irregular profile is normal.
It's created by the perspective
of the distant mountaintop view through the dense atmosphere.
Rising as the Sun sets, the antisolar point or
the point opposite the Sun is close to the perspective's vanishing
point near the mountain shadow's peak.
But extending in the antisolar direction, Earth's conical shadow is
only a few lunar diameter's
wide at the distance of the Moon.
So October's
Full Hunters Moon is still reflecting sunlight,
seen through the mountain's atmospheric shadow but
found too far from the antisolar point and the Earth's extended shadow
to be eclipsed.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Moon - shadow
Publications with words: Moon - shadow
See also: